Six Very Important Interactions Between Rappers And Dogs

July 27, 2012

As part of this weekend’s Catalpa Festival, Snoop Dogg will slouch around Randall’s Island to perform his debut album, Doggystyle, in its entirety. With the Doggfather being somewhat obsessed with all things canine, SOTC decided it was fine time to shed light on hip-hop’s infatuation with dogs. But be warned: This ain’t exactly the equivalent of watching the cute lil’ puppies prance around in the window of that pet store on Sixth Avenue in the West Village.

6. Snoop Doggy Dogg, “Who Am I (What’s My Name)?”
In a piece of acting that’s up there with his esteemed role in Soul Plane, Snoop’s breakthrough video has him morphing into a Doberman when the father of some girl he’s trying to seduce comes knocking at their door. Here it is in GIF form:

5. Kool G Rap & DJ Polo’s Live And Let Die Cover

Proving beyond any doubt at all that rappers should own dogs, one of the finest MCs to ever come out of Queens set up the cover shot to his third album to include a couple of mild-mannered Rottweilers being fed raw meat while some undercover cops hang in the background. It’s as if G Rap didn’t know that it’s really irresponsible to feed your dogs “people food.”

4. Big Boi’s Pitfall Kennels
When not working on tunes, Big Boi can be found tending to his very well-known and respected kennel in Atlanta.” Pitfall Kennels claims that it is “not here to bore you with a lot of dog name dropping and follow the breeder antics.” As you’d expect, all pups purchased from Pitfall Kennels are thoroughly dewormed before you take them home, although the company’s website fails to detail exactly how hands-on Big Boi is in this part of the process.

3. Kay Gee The Almighty & DJ Drew, “She’s A Dog”
Rappers might love dogs, but they also really like to characterize women as behaving in a manner akin to canines. Going well beyond mere flagrant use of the b-word, golden era footnote Kay Fee The Almighty dropped this rugged ode to back up his stance. Key quip: “The A.S.P.C.A. scooped her up in a net.”

2. Waka Flocka Flame’s PETA Ads
Atlanta shout-rapper Waka Flocka Flame might come across as a boisterous buffoon on record, but in real life he’s a total sweetie. So in touch with the animal kingdom is Waka that he recently shot a series of ads for animal-welfare activists PETA. The spots included him helpfully pointing out, “An animal isn’t going to curse you out, an animal ain’t gon’ fight you. It’s going to show you nothing but love. Animals are just like you, so be cautious of what you do.” (If you were wondering, Waka’s puppy in the ad is named Daphna.)

1. DMX’s Dogs
DMX’s batshit crazy obsession with dogs is well known: He has the name of his first canine love, Boomer, tattooed on his body; he makes barking noises when he raps; and when he escaped from an upstate prison he was chased through the field by a pack of wild dogs. (This happened!) Unfortunately, this is all balanced by an arrest for animal cruelty back in 2008. But lo! This moral conundrum is dwarfed by DMX’s role in the now-defunct zine Life Sucks Die running a Where’s Waldo? spoof spread based around finding a bunch of DMX’s dogs!

Catalpa, with the Black Keys, Snoop Dogg, TV On The Radio, Umphrey’s McGee, A$AP Rocky, Girl Talk, and many other artists, takes place at Icahn Stadium on Saturday and Sunday.